Reacting to a barrage of anti-immigrant messaging andmisinformation, Proposition 200 was approved by 56% ofArizonavoters on November 2, 2004. Prop. 200 forces allArizonans to present proof of U.S. citizenship, such asa birth certificate or passport, to receive basicpublicservices and to register to vote.Arizona's Attorney General has limited its applicationto five public benefits programs, but Prop. 200's mostfar-reaching impact has been one of widespread fearand intimidation. Immigrants are afraid to access evenprograms to which they areentitled. The voter-registration component of Prop. 200 constitutesa modern-day poll tax that often keeps low-income peopleand communities of color from voting.

Since Proposition 200 passed last fall, its backers havepresented an alarming 20 bills targeting immigrants inthe Arizonalegislature, have cheered the vigilanteMinuteman Project on the Arizona-Mexico border, and haveworked to sponsor similar bills in other states. Butthere isa growing grassroots mobilization against theresurgence of racist policies in Arizona, and thethreat of an international and national boycott of thestate looms.

Prop. 200 Passed After a Campaign Rife with Xenophobia and Half-Truths

In 2004, anti-immigrant groups nationwide with intimateties to white national istorganizations focused theirattention on Arizona.Residents there were frustratedwith low-wage jobs, poor healthcare, and funding beingdirected away from schools and public benefitsprograms. Extremists joined with a handful of fringelocal groups to promote a hateful agenda of blamingimmigrants for the state's woes.

By the time election season rolled around in 2004,Arizona voters had already been primed foran anti-immigrant message thanks to a campaign of lies andrace-baiting thatbuilt upon a decade of intense bordermilitarization. Early polling in August of 2004 showedhigh rates of approval for Prop. 200.1 However, localcommunityorganizations mobilized against fringe groupsfrom outside the state, and by mid-October,approval haddropped from 64% to 42%, and appeared to be fallingfurther.2

Backin the spring of 2004, signature-gathering to placeProp. 200 on the Novemberballot was waning. A fringegroup calling itself, "Protect Arizona Now," hadinitiated the signature-gathering with support fromnational anti-immigrant figureheads and organizations.When Protect Arizona Now'sefforts lagged, theWashington, DC-based Federation for AmericanImmigrationReform (FAIR), an anti-immigrantorganization with white supremacist ties, moved intoArizonaand began paying signature gatherers, investing$500,000 to ensure Prop. 200would appear on theballot.3 FAIR also wooed voters with a bogus studyallegingthat undocumented immigrants "cost Arizona $1.3billion per year." Their study, among otherinaccuracies,misleadingly included $810 million peryear worth of state spending on education provided tochildren of immigrants who were U.S. citizens.4FAIRrefers to such children as "immigrant stock," languagethat offersa glimpse of the white supremacy inherent intheir analysis of immigrants.5

Infact, immigrants, both documented and undocumented,contribute heavily to Arizona's economy. The ThunderbirdSchool of International Management and Wells FargoBank, in theirreport Economic Impact of the Mexico-Arizona Relationship, demonstrated that immigrants makeenormous tax contributions, paying annually $300million more than they receive in services in Arizona.6In 2001, Mexican immigrants in Arizona paid $1.5 billionin mortgages and rent, and Arizona banks andother financial institutions received $57 million intransaction costs and fees from remittances sent toMexico from the state. In addition, Mexicanimmigrant purchasing power in Arizonawas estimated at$3.9 billion in 2001.7

Further contradicting FAIR's numbers, the New York Timesrecently reported that the 8to 10 million undocumentedimmigrant workers in the U. S. are now providing theSocial Security system with a subsidy of as much as $7billion a year. This money willnever be collected byundocumented immigrants themselves and will help fundtheretirement of U.S.citizens for decades to come.8Nevertheless, FAIR continues to peddle itsownstatistics to promote Prop. 200 copycats in otherstates, scapegoating immigrants--not the federalgovernment--for the severe cutbacks in state social andhealth services.

Sincethe approval of Prop. 200 by Arizonavoters, immigrants have come under further attack fromthe Arizona legislature. This legislatives ession therewere more than 20 anti-immigrant bills that sought toexpand Prop. 200's application and many of them havebeen approved or are still pending.

"The Minutemen vigilantes have diverted the attention ofthe public and the mediawhile their counterpartssporting suits and ties in the State Capitolpromoteracist laws," said Luis Herrera, an organizerwith the St. Peter's Housing Committee in SanFrancisco."A war against immigrants and people of colorhas been declared in Arizona."

Voting Rights of U.S. CitizensUnder Attack

Prop.200 backers also made unfounded accusations thatundocumented immigrants votedin Arizona. Their true aimwas to suppress voting by people of color. They openlydeclared during a televised debate, "Too many Latinosare voting." The impactof Prop. 200 identificationrequirements on voter registration has been staggering--in Pima County, over a two-week period early thismonth, 423 of 712voter registration forms wererejected, or 59% of new voters. Last year, when 6timesas many people were registering because of thepresidential election, novoter registration forms wererejected.9

Arizona isalready red-flagged by the U.S. JusticeDepartment (USDOJ) because of its history of widespreadvoter intimidation against people of color.Consequently,all changes to the state's voting lawsmust be approved by the federalgovernment. DespiteProp. 200's blatant discriminatory intent, in January2005the USDOJ ruled that forcing people to show proofof citizenship whenregistering to vote does not deterpeople of color from voting.

Arizona is now the first state in the U.S.to requirethat anyone registering to vote present a birthcertificate, passport, or tribal identity card. InArizona, approximately one-third of the Latino andAfrican American populations live inpoverty. Citizenswho cannot afford to purchase a birth certificate ($15in Arizona), or passport($85) will be prohibited fromregistering to vote. Civil rights leaders saythis iseerily reminiscent of racist poll taxes. Prop. 200 alsowipes outclipboard voter registration drives becausemaking copies of the requireddocuments at a potentialnew voter's doorstep is practically impossible. A numberof bills currently before the legislature seek tofurther restrict voting rights and are sponsored by thesame anti-immigrant contingent of legislators.

Arizona Becomes the Vanguard State for Anti-ImmigrantMeasures

Prop.200's legalization of racial profiling has had adetrimental impact onU.S.-Mexico relations, as well asearned Arizonaa reputation for intolerance within theUnited States. Recent headlines in Arizona's Spanish-language newspapers included, "Enriesgo imagen deArizona [ Arizona'sImage at Risk]," and "Peligrosoracismo en Arizona[Dangerous Racism in Arizona]."HarryGarewal, the president of Arizona's Hispanic Chamber ofCommerce, warnedthat Arizona is being singled out at anational level as the most intolerant and raciststate.10

InMarch, a 7-member delegation of Mexican senatorsvisited Arizona to investigate the effects of Prop.200.The senators, seeking to analyze the law and itseffects on Mexicannationals, had appointments withArizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Phoenix MayorPhil Gordon. However, Governor Janet Napolitano, a one-time opponent of Proposition 200, announced her refusalto receive the delegation and later Mayor Gordon, also aone-time opponent of the measure, canceled hismeetingwith the Mexican legislators.11

Prop.200-like legislation is actively being promoted byFAIR and other anti-immigrant organizations around thecountry. Emboldened by Prop. 200'spassage in Arizona,Arkansas,Colorado, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee,Virginia,and Ohio are all facing similar measures. In Arkansas,Joe McCutchen recently became the chair of "ProtectArkansas Now," a group supporting the "Arkansas Taxpayerand Citizen Protection Act,"closely modeled onProposition 200. A recent report by the SouthernPoverty LawCenter notes that Joe McCutchen was a memberof the white supremacist Councilof ConservativeCitizens (CCC) in 2001, according to the CCC'snewspaper.13

A Post-Prop. 200 Nightmare

The Arizona legislature is now debating 20 additionalbills that seek to criminalize and further marginalizeimmigrant workers and their families.

*HB 2030 expands Prop. 200 to prohibit undocumentedimmigrants from attending public universities andcommunity colleges, as well as Adult Education andFamily Literacy programs. It also blocks access toutility and child care assistance. It is based on thefalse premise that immigrants are a net economic drainonthe state. HB 2030 passed the Arizona Legislature andwas vetoed by theGovernor.

*HB 2592 bans state funding for day labor centers. Itwould prohibit cities and towns from maintaining orbuilding a day labor center if it is used to "facilitatethe hiring of undocumented workers." Day laborcenters provide safe, organized, and convenientlocations for both workers andemployers. HB 2592 passedthe Arizona Legislature and has already been signedbyGovernor Napolitano.

*SB 1306 allows for police and Border Patrolcooperation. Police would be ableto detain immigrantsfor the purpose of calling Border Patrol, creatingfurther abuse and policing in low-income communities ofcolor. SB 1306 passed the Arizona Legislature but wasrecently vetoed by the governor.

*HB 2709 would build a private prison in Mexicoto jailundocumented immigrants arrested in Arizona. Privateprisons are already cashingin on immigrant detentionand are notorious for human rights violations. This bill would require a new treaty between the U.S.andMexico.HB 2709 passed the Arizona Legislature and wasvetoed by Governor Napolitano.

*SB 1511 prohibits public entities from accepting thematrícula consular as aform of identification. Thematrícula consular is an official I.D. card issued bythe Mexican Government through its consular offices. SB1511 passed the Arizona Legislature and was vetoed byGovernor Napolitano.

National and International Boycott of Arizona Imminent

Prop.200, the rapid advance of its legislativeoffspring, and the upsurge of armed paramilitaries onthe border, have prompted communities in Mexico,Arizona,and across the United Statesto begin organizinga boycott of Arizona. The boycott will targetArizona businesses, conventions, and tourism, and willask individuals and businesses to shop, travel, andconduct business elsewhere.

The communities most affected by Prop. 200 and itsoffspring bills in the Arizona Legislature wieldconsiderable economic power. Mexican tourists alonespend anestimated $1.6 billion in Arizonaevery year,and Mexican immigrant purchasing power is close to $4billion.Mexicans who might normally visit Arizonatoshop would be asked not to purchase anything in thestate. In addition, immigrants, Latinos, and theirallies in Arizonahave begun to engage in workstoppages, and are considering boycottingspecificindustries or companies that support anti-immigrant legislation.

The boycott will coincide with a petition drive torepeal Prop. 200. Arizonans helda series of communitymeetings in May, 2005, to decide what industriestheboycott will target and to consult the communitiesthat would be most impacted by such an action.

Inthe early 1990s, Arizonans challenged whitesupremacists with a boycott andwon. When a ballotinitiative to recognize the Martin Luther King Jr.holidayfailed to pass, local and national civil rightsgroups initiated a national boycott of Arizona. The year-long boycott cost Arizona$200 million, its reputation,and an NFL Superbowl. When given the chance tovote onthe holiday again, Arizona voters approved it.

Arizona currently isat the epicenter of a national andinternational struggle to defend the humanrights ofimmigrants and U.S. citizens of color. The passage ofProp. 200 here marked the kick-off of adangerous state-by-state drive to hide a racist campaign behind astrategic front of blaming immigrants for economic andsocial ills.

Almost completely missing from the heated contestplaying out in Arizonaand nationally is a discussion ofthe unjust U.S. trade policies that propel migration.Immigrants suffer increasing imprisonment and policingfor simply crossing a border. Instead of imposingharsher restrictions on the First World's exploitationof Third World peoples, U.S. laws punish the victims oftheglobal economic system even further.

"Wesee the effects of these free trade policies everyday in the faces of the workers at our Centers," saidSalvador Reza, director of the Macehualli Work Center inPhoenix, a day labor center that could soonbe bannedunder HB 2592. "Prop. 200 and its henchmen have got tobestopped, or this place is in for a boycott."

--------------------------------------------------Margot Veranes and Adriana Navarro are members ofDefeat 200 in Tucson, Arizona.For more information onProp. 200 and similar bills currently before the Arizona Legislature, the Boycott of Arizona, and other ways to support immigrantrights campaigns in Arizona,please contact Defeat 200 at

Thursday, June 09, 2005

The increasing number of leftist, populist led governments winning elections in Latin America means a new opportunity for Fr. Roy Bourgeois and other opponents of the School of the Americas (SOA) to close the institution down.

The left is on an unprecedented ascendance in Latin America. After years of suffering under U.S. backed dictatorships, the majority of the people in South America have rejected neo-liberal policies and have voted for left-leaning governments in the most recent elections. SOA Watch, the organization started by Bourgeois, now has the chance to ask the elected leaders of these countries to pull their troops out of training at the school.

The triumph of Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, Lula's Workers Party in Brazil, Nestor Kirchner's populist government in Argentina, socialist President Tabare Vasquez in Uruguay and President Ricardo Lagos in Chile are the result of a popular upsurge by populations sick of corporate globalization and the predations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

"The victory of the socialist doctor, Tabare Vazquez, in February's elections in Uruguay has prompted analysts and left-wing presidents to talk of a 'new South America,'" observed James Painter, BBC Latin American analyst. "They point out that left-leaning leaders run the big three economies of Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, and now predominate in most of the rest of the region. The only exception is President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, who remains adamantly pro- Washington and free market policies."

Both President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil did extremely well in recent local elections. Pro-government candidates won in 20 of Venezuela's 22 states, according to Painter. Lula's Workers Party in Brazil won the most number of votes nationwide and doubled the number of local councils it won in 2000 - even though it lost Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.

In Central America, the left is also on the upsurge. The Sandinista Front (FSLN) won 87 of Nicaragua's 152 mayoral posts in the November 2004 elections. The victories will boost Ortega's chances in 2006 of winning back the presidency he lost in the election of 1990.

Likewise in El Salvador, the leftist FMLN saw an increase in seats in the parliament and municipal government posts in the 2003 elections, though the presidency is still controlled by the right wing. The FMLN won 31 deputy seats against the right wing ARENA Partys 27 deputies in the parliamentary elections, although ARENA won the presidential election of March 2004 by a margin of 57% to 35% against the FMLN.

The focus of SOA Watch, founded by Father Roy Bourgeois, continues to be the passage of legislation in the U.S. Congress to close down the School of the Americas. However, his efforts to get progressive Latin American governments to pull their troops out of training at the "School of the Assassins" are already beginning to bear fruit, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. A new front has been opened in the battle to close the SOA.

Bourgeois recently met with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, a country that has sent 4,000 troops to the school. Chavez agreed to stop sending troops to the school - a historic moment in the long struggle to shut the institution down.

"We are very hopeful that we will get Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and other countries to withdraw from participation in the school this year," said Bourgeois at an appearance in Sacramento this spring. "We are very encouraged by Chavez's decision to no longer send troops to the SOA."

"For many years, the eyes of Latin America were focused on Nicaragua," explained Bourgeois. "The Sandinistas did a lot of good things, like redistribute land, conduct a literacy campaign and empower the powerless."

However, the United States' intervention in Nicaragua resulted in many of the revolution's gains being set back after the U.S. battered the population with the brutal Contra War. The result was the loss of the presidency by Daniel Ortega to Violetta Chamorro in 1990.

The political situation now has changed dramatically from those bleak years right after the Sandinistas were defeated. "After years under the IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies, the people and their governments are realizing these policies are not working and they are moving away from them. The majority of people are poor and struggling for their survival," said Bourgeois.

"The populist victories in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay are all about bringing poor people into the circle and addressing the issues of poverty and health care," he added. "This will cause a conflict with the people in Washington, but these countries have the right to self-determination. Our country has been on the wrong side, on the side of the small elite and the corporations, rather being on the side of the people."

The growing groundswell against U.S. military and economic domination makes this year a key time to pressure the U.S. to shut down the SOA. "We must close down the SOA because it provides the muscle for U.S. foreign policy and protects the economic interests of the corporate giants," said Bourgeois.

In March, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) reintroduced legislation in the 109th Congress to suspend operations of the School of the Americas (now renamed -- WHINSEC -- the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).

HR 1217, "The Latin America Military Training Review Act of 2005," had 78 bi-partisan introductory co- sponsors -- thanks to intense lobbying efforts by activists during the February Lobby Day and National Call-in Day by SOA Watch. The bill currently has 105 bi-partisan co-sponsors; Representative Doris Matsui became the 105th after a delegation by local SOA Watch activists Leisa Faulkner Barnes and Janice Freeman, supported by Lorraine Krofchok of Grandmothers For Peace, in May.

The School of the Americas has trained a majority of the dictators and military officers responsible for the killing, massacre and torture of hundreds of thousands of people in Latin America. Many of the soldiers and officers responsible for the Guatemalan Genocide of the 1980's, where over 200,000 people were killed and 637 Mayan villages were wiped off the face of the map, were SOA graduates.

Of the 28 soldiers involved in the slaughter of the 9 Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter at the Central American University in November 1989, 19 were SOA graduates.

Since SOA Watch has been demonstrating at Fort Benning, 200 courageous activists have been jailed, spending a total of 85 years in federal prison. Sacramento's Leisa Faulkner Barnes last year completed a three-month sentence in the women's federal prison in Dublin for participation in the protest at the SOA in November 2003.

"We will keep coming back to Fort Benning until we shut the SOA down," said Bourgeois. "We will again demonstrate at the school on November 19 to 20 this year."

Please take the time to call your Congress Member by DC office by calling the Capitol Hill Switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask them to support Rep. Jim McGovern's HR 1217. For more information, contact SOA Watch at: www.soaw.org. For more information about the Sacramento SOA Watch, call Janice Freeman, 916-812-7680, or Leisa Faulkner Barnes, 916-801-4184

Here is a suggested message for you to convey: "I am calling Congressman/woman ________ to remind him/her that Rep. Jim McGovern has introduced HR 1217, The Latin America Military Training Review Act of 2005, which would suspend and investigate the School of the Americas, which now uses the acronym WHINSEC. I urge the Congressman/woman to contact Rep. McGovern's office to become a cosponsor of this bipartisan bill. This would be one very concrete step to support human rights and promote peace and justice for the people of Latin America."

WASHINGTON — Los Angeles' new political celebrity, Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa, took his victory tour to the nation's capital Wednesday, receiving rave reviews for appearances that included a national conference of Democratic activists and a lunch with some of the nation's most influential Latinos.

The city councilman does not take office as mayor until July 1, which limited the substantive opportunities in his daylong swing but not the reaction he earned. Everywhere he went, supporters fawned, many of them asking him to autograph their copies of this week's Newsweek magazine, which bears his smiling face on the cover.

"He represents the future of progressive politics in America," said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, as he introduced Villaraigosa to an audience of more than 1,000 activists who gave him three standing ovations.

Villaraigosa won over the crowd at the group's Take Back America conference, even as he complained that it was not diverse enough, and that the Democratic Party had not done enough to strike a chord with ordinary Americans. He said neither main political party has made urban issues, including poverty and homelessness, enough of a priority .

"I think we need to look long and hard within our movement," Villaraigosa told the largely white group. "You look at this room today, and you don't see the kind of diversity we need to build a strong movement in America. We are not reaching out enough."

A politician who won by reaching out to conservative San Fernando Valley voters as well as Westside liberals, Villaraigosa told the group he is "an unabashed progressive but I'm not a knee-jerk."

Activists, some of whom were not familiar with Villaraigosa, said they found his speech powerful and refreshing.

"I'm a big fan," said Tony Simone of New York City, who had Villaraigosa sign his copy of Newsweek. "I completely agree with what he says."

Villaraigosa had planned to make the trip even before he won the runoff election against Mayor James K. Hahn two weeks ago, and the event was one of five public appearances and private meetings for him. The whirlwind visit started when he arrived by red-eye flight Wednesday morning. He was scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles on Wednesday night to meet today with the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Villaraigosa also received an enthusiastic reception at a Latino Leadership lunch attended by 200 influential Latinos, including U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral, deputy assistant to the president Ruben Barrales, ambassadors, city council members, corporate executives and labor leaders, including Linda Chavez Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO. Many stood in line to tell him how much his victory meant to them.

Jesse Rios, a labor leader from Chicago, said Villaraigosa's victory would open the door for others.

"I'm so proud of him. It's a tremendous victory for Latinos throughout the country," said Rios, who is executive director of the Labor Council for Latino American Advancement.

Villaraigosa's lunch appearance drew a surprise visit from Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, a former Los Angeles resident who had counseled Villaraigosa after his loss to Hahn in the 2001 mayor's race.

"He's going to do an incredible job," Williams told reporters as he and Villaraigosa clasped each other on the shoulders.

Barrales, a Californian who is White House director of governmental affairs, told Villaraigosa the Bush administration would work closely with him.

"The White House is open to you," he said. "We are there to work with you on issues important to Los Angeles and the United States of America."

Villaraigosa, who was accompanied by City Council President Alex Padilla, said he owed his election to support from voters across Los Angeles. But he acknowledged its importance for the Latino community.

"This wasn't about me. This was about a great country we live in," he said. "This is about a community that has struggled and contributed to the incredible prosperity that is America. This is about a community that wanted to participate."

The mayor-elect attended the grand opening ceremony for a new headquarters building for the National Council of La Raza, where the group's president, Janet Murguria, said Villaraigosa's victory had reverberated across the country.

"It's historic, it's a landmark; we're very proud of him," she said.

"But more than that, we are excited about the potential for others building similar multicultural coalitions in the future."

Beyond speeches and interviews, Villaraigosa also used the Washington trip to meet with the city's lobbyists to hear about funding and legislative proposals affecting Los Angeles.

In his campaign, the councilman made several promises that probably would require Washington's help, including expanding the police force by 1,000 officers and extending the city's subway system.

Los Angeles has not always fared well in seeking its share of federal assistance. The Rose Institute of State and Local Government issued a report in 2001 that found that Los Angeles ranked eighth out of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County in receiving federal funds.

In response, Hahn hired the Washington lobbying firm Patton Boggs, which has been paid $900,000 in the last few years to supplement the work of the city's lobbyists in Washington.

Villaraigosa emerged from a meeting with the lobbyists saying he would aggressively pursue the city's agenda in Washington. He said he planned to meet with key congressional committee heads soon and would institute a "Los Angeles Day," when the city's leaders would descend on the nation's capital to press their case.

"Obviously, we are going to continue to make funding for homeland security a priority, addressing issues related to the port as well," Villaraigosa told reporters. He said many appropriations for this year have been set, but that he was looking at next year.

Villaraigosa's visit occurred while Congress was in recess, so the mayor-elect was not able to meet with any of Los Angeles' 14 representatives. But those interviewed by The Times as they headed back to their districts predicted that Villaraigosa would have more success than Hahn in getting Los Angeles attention from the federal government.

"We all liked him; most of us endorsed him. And we all want him to succeed," said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks). "He has a certain infectious charisma, which has helped him with everything he has tried to accomplish. He should be able to present our case well."

If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.